Street or station indicator



Dec, 16, 1924.

J. M CALL STREET OR STATION INDICATOR 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed July- 12, 1924 J. M CALL STREET 011 STATI ON,-INDICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 12, 924

m H .V n 4, E v L, m. u A 1 u N A W (O. O B

u n k Patented Dec. 16, 1924.

UNITED STATES JOHN MGCALL, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

STREET R STATION INDICATOR.

Application filed July 12,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MGCALL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of Toronto, county of York, Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street or Station Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention primarily relates to an improvement in street indicators, designed for use with travelling vehicles, such as street cars, and adapted to automatically indicate the name of the street which the vehicle is approaching, but it must be understood that the principle of the invention may be also adapted for use on railway trains to indicate the name of the next station, and in the following specification and the drawings forming part thereof, I shall describe and illustrate my invention, and what I claim as new will be set forth in the claims forming part of this specification.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my indicator, with certain supporting parts broken away to show internal construction and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the indicator. Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical cross sections respectively on the lines 33, and 44, Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through certain of the parts, on the line 5-5, Fig. 1.

In the drawings, like characters of reference refer to the same parts.

Means extraneous to the vehicle carrying the indicator mechanism will be employed to actuate the same but since the same is not germane to the invention, such means is not illustrated.

Suitably journalled in standards A is a bearing member B, and loosely mounted on said member substantially midway of the standards A is a toothed wheel C. Preferably integrally formed with the hub D of said toothed wheel are ratchet wheels E and F which are adapted to be rotated in opposite directions and so rotate the wheel C in opposite directions.

Constantly in mesh with the toothed wheel C are pinions 2 and 3, one located substantially above the other, and each fixedly mounted on a shaft 4, which shafts are held in the standards A. 5 and 6 are levers which are loosely mounted on the bearing member B adjacent the ends of the hub D. 7 are sleeves mounted on the hearing member B and used as spacers to keep 1924. Serial No. 725,541.

the levers 5 and 6 in place and spaced apart from the standards A.

It will be noticed upon referring particularly to the drawings that the major portion of the lever 5 is located above the bearing member B, and that a considerable por tion of the lever 6 is located below said bearing member. This construction enables me to associate the various elements so as to occupy small space and secure the necessary movements.

Pivoted to the inner side of each lever 5 and 6 by pins 8 are dogs 9. Associated with the said pins 8 and said dogs are springs 10, and the function of these springs is to move the nose 11 of each dog into engagement with its associated ratchet wheel at the proper time.

In the normal position of the parts guards 12 are interposed between the dogs 9 and their associated ratchet wheels, and keep said dogs out of engagement therewith. The said guards are firmly supported by their lower portions 13 in the standards A.

Coiled around each sleeve 7 is a spring 14, and the free end 15 of each spring is so associated with its associated lever 5 or 6 as to endeavour to maintain these levers in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In respect to the lever 6 the free end 15 of its associated spring passes therethrough as shown in Fig. 4 near the upper end of this lever, and in respect of the lever 5 the free end 15 of the its associated spring rests in contact with the pin 8 carried by said lever.

The fixed ends 16 of the springs 14 are of course held in any manner convenient.

Some means of course must be employed to automatically alternately move the levers 5 and 6 to visually disclose the name of the streetcarried by the indicating band or apron 17, which is rolled around rollers 18, which rollers are mounted on the shafts 4 and rotate therewith. The ends of said shafts beyond one of the standards A are journalled in a standard 19. The preferred means comprises a pair of solenoids 20 suitably secured to its associated standards A, and one on each side of the toothed wheel C. Each armature 21 of each solenoid is connected by a link 22 to its associated lever.

e will assume that the upper solenoid 20 is energized, and the result is that the armature 21 as drawn inward will actuate the lever 5, and when the dog 9 of this lever escapes its associated guard 12, this dog will actuate the ratchet wheel E and move the same in the direction indicated by arrow in Fig. 3. The movement of this ratchet wheel of course will be conveyed to the hub D and consequently the toothed wheel C will be moved in a like direction. The movement of this wheel will operate the pinions 2 and 3 and consequently through the rotation of their associated shafts 4: the band or apron 17 will be moved so as to wind portion of it around one of the rollers 18 and unwind it from the other roller 18, and thus disclose to the vision the name of the next street or station.

So soon as the solenoid 20 under consideration is deenergized, the spring 1 1 associated with the lever 5 will return it to normal position.

A stop in the form of the upper shaft 1 limits the movement of the lever 5 under the influence of the spring 14, and it will be observed that this lever is cut-away as shown at a to allow for the. full return movement thereof to position its associated dog 9 in respect of its associated guard 12.

The above operation will be repeated 'until the end of the run is reached, and then through the action of the lower solenoid 20 and its associated armature 21, the lever 6 will be actuated, and the dog 9 thereof will co-act with its associated ratchet wheel F to turn the toothed wheel C and through the pinions 2 and 3 actuate the band or apron 17 for the purpose already mentioned.

To limit the operating movement of the lever 6, any suitable stop is provided, such as a rod I) carried by one of the standards A.

Obviously the throw of each lever 5 or 6 will move the band or apron 17 each time to disclose to view the name of a street or station.

Various changes in details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Nhat I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described in combination a supported bearing member; a toothed wheel mounted to freely rotate thereon in either direction; a ratchet wheel located at each side of said toothed wheel and associated therewith to move same alternately in opposite directions; a spring-provided first lever pivoted at its inner end on said bearing member and adjacent the outer side of its associated ratchet wheel; a second spring-provided lever mounted on said bearing member and adjacent the outer side of its associated ratchet wheel, and extending well beyond each side of said member; a spring-held dog associated with each of the said levers; a guard interposed between each of the said dogs and their associated ratchet wheels to normally keep said dogs out of engagement with said ratchet wheels; a pair of pinions constantly in mesh with said toothed wheel; a shaft for each of the said pinions; a band or apron associated with each of the said shafts and provided with the names of the streets or stations, and means to alternately actuate said spring-provided levers so that when either of the same is moved to move its associated dog out of engagement each with its associated guard, the said dog will co-act with its associated ratchet wheel and turn said toothed wheel and said pinions in engagement therewith to move said band or apron, for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the class .described in combination a supported bearing member; a toothed wheel mounted to freely rotate thereon in either direction; a ratchet wheel located at each side of said toothed wheel and associated therewith to move same alternately in opposite directions; a spring-provided first lever pivoted at its inner end on said bearing member and adjacent the outer side of its associated ratchet wheel; a second spring-provided lever mounted on said bearing member and adjacent the outer side of its associated ratchet wheel, and eX- tending well beyond each side of said member; a spring-held dog associated with each of the said levers; a guard interposed between each of the said dogs and their associated ratchet wheels to normally keep said dogs out of engagement with said ratchet wheels; a pair of pinions constantly in mesh with said toothed wheel; a shaft for each of the said pinions; a band or apron associated with each of the said shafts and provided with the names of the streets or stations;

.a solenoid located at each side of said toothed wheel, and a link connecting the armature of each solenoid wlth its associated spring-provided lever.

, JOHN MCCALL. 

